


Bound for Error

by Art_Surgery, Ciphers_Daughter



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Memory Loss, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Art_Surgery/pseuds/Art_Surgery, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ciphers_Daughter/pseuds/Ciphers_Daughter
Summary: During what should have been a routine mission on Route 66 Sombra suffers an unfortunate accident, left behind by her team and without her memories. She finds herself in the Deadlock Gang territory and taken in by Ashe herself, who sees a potential new ally and more importantly, an asset. As their time together will progress can Sombra recover her memories? Perhaps she will gain a new purpose and her savior will end up being a friend, or maybe even more.
Relationships: Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe & Sombra | Olivia Colomar, Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe/Sombra | Olivia Colomar, implied past Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe/Jesse McCree, one sided Ashe/Mccree
Comments: 29
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get in, get the payload, get the hell out of there. Of course, things were never that easy with Overwatch agents around. The California sun was blazing down, leaving the land scorched and the air hard and heavy. The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of gun-fire.

“The payload’s not doing much good sitting there,” Sombra said into her comm as she leaned against the rock walls to reload her weapon and avoid the barrage of bullets coming her way. “Someone want to help me out here? They seem to have taken out my translocator.” 

“We’re working on it!” Reaper’s gruff voice snapped out over the near-deafening sound of bullets on rock and dirt.

“Well would you mind hurrying that alo-”

“Surrender to my will!” was a saving grace as Moira's violet and gold Coalescence attack broke through the barrier of gunfire. 

‘Ah. That’ll work.’

Wasting no time Sombra silently activated her cloaking shield and ran from her cover, weaving cautiously around the enemy and straight for the payload.

“God damn it! Team be alert we’ve lost visual on Sombra” Soldier 76 called out unaware the very enemy was behind him as he tried to duck in cover near the wheels of the carrier. 

Bearing a smirk, and never one to miss an opportunity, Sombra dropped her cloaking, “Been here all along gringo.” Fast as lighting she hacked his systems and kicked him away before laying down fire, “Payloads in my possession, anyone want to join me?” 

“Focus, we aren’t in the clear yet. Reaper and Moira are predisposed.” Windowmaker’s voice filtered through, no doubt safe in her sniper's roost she had set up for herself. Leaving the Latina alone, out in the open. Never a good thing in the hacker's opinion. 

“Heya whatcha doing there?’ A cheeky British voice broke Sombra from her thoughts. Before she could react she felt a hit to the back of her head sending her into the dust. 

‘Damn it that hurt.’  
She gritted her teeth and tasted sand with the distinct coppery taste of blood. Sombra quickly rolled away feeling the graze of bullets passing her by. She took blind aim and started to fire back. “Back off!” she snapped as she barely managed to get to her feet, and got perfect aim for Tracer’s head. “Te tengo tonta.” 

A shot rang out and pain ran like fire up Sombra’s right arm, her stomach twisted into knots making her feel nauseous as her head began to seem to float off into a murky mess. Stumbling to the ground she found the culprit to her ailment; a specially modified syringe, made to be fired from a sniper rifle, hung precariously from her arm. “S-Shit. No fair.” Was her voice slurred or was time really going that slow? She couldn’t tell as she tried to find her footing once more. She backed away from Tracer’s distorted body, only to find herself at the ledge of the gorge. 

Fantastic, caught between a gun pointed at her and a drop that could very well kill her if she was seeing that drop correctly. How could it get any worse?

“Ogon’ po gotovnosti!” A Russian voice called out as a blue and purple orb landed near her feet and pulled her in, seemingly squeezing the air right out of her lungs.

Oh, FANTASTIC!

The ground shook with the impact of something large and heavy. “Dwaa looook th-the monkey came to visit me~”

The overwatch members face twisted to a displeased glare.“I am not a monkey. Give it up Sombra you’ve been caught. Come quietly and there won’t be any issues.” Winston’s deep voice grated against Sombra’s already aching head. What the hell was Ana doing with those darts of hers lately?

“You’re taking this very seriously.” she laughed at him as Mercy floated down in her angelic way, surprisingly with a look of worry on her face. Gross.

“Winston, it's not safe here, we need to keep moving. We don't know who else is here from Talon.” She urged the ape beside her, looking around. They had driven Reaper and Moira back but that didn’t mean they were in the clear.

“I know something you don’t know” Sombra sing songed with a giggle earning a growl from Winston lifting his Tesla gun up in a threatening show only to be stopped by Mercy.

“Enough of this, Lena get the ship. We need to get out of here before-” 

Without warning a shot rang out loud and clear only to miss the intended target. Shame, Mercy would have looked good with a hole there. Instead, it hit the inner workings of Winston’s weapon making it hiss, spitting out ominous sparks and bolts of lightning.

“Everyone get back!” he yelled, throwing away the weapon knowing an unstable, self-destructing object when he saw one. Grabbing Mercy and leaping to a safe distance he threw down his energy shield around them and Zarya. Leaving the hissing thing to slide right under Sombra, the electricity licking at her back overloading the circuity that was implanted there making the Latina cry out in anguish. 

And just as her current luck would have it, Zarya’s gravitational pull was letting her go just as it let loose a grand finale of sparks and a blinding blue light right under her sending her flying through the air, and over the edge of the gorge. 

Her body felt like it was burning as she flew through the air, her head felt like it was exploding from the pain coursing through it as who knew how many volts of raw energy found their way through all of her hard-wired circuits, overloading them and leaving them fried. She couldn’t even hear her own screams as she fell and was thankful when she was swallowed into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to my co-writer/editor/beta reader and my muse Art_Surgery she's the best thing I could have asked for and she gives me the best insperation for Ashe.

The dust had finally settled in the gorge. Talon was finally able to get a clear look at the scene before them, and the Overwatch team had fled the scene leaving the sad, charred remains of their target behind. Sombra, or her potential remains, were nowhere to be found.

“Well, that’s just grand. We’ve lost both our target and our esteemed hacker.” Moira deadpanned, scanning their surroundings as Reaper tried to find anything worth saving from the explosion site and Widow was making the call for their drop ship to come around and pick them up before anything else could go wrong. “Any sign of her?” She asked turning to Reaper as he finished moving the rubble and giving it a frustrated kick.

“No,” He growled out, “If she was here I would have found something of her.”

“And you’re quite certain you saw nothing Lacroix?” She asked turning to the other woman as she came closer.

“Nothing aside from that flashing light.” She reported flatly, “Our transport will be here in less than three minutes.” 

“We’ve lost Sombra before on missions, she always comes crawling back.” Reaper gruffed crossing his arms impatiently as this only earned an unimpressed hum from the Irish woman as she attempted to shield herself from the sun with her hand.

“I suppose you do have a point, Gabriel.” Though despite saying so, something didn’t sit right with her, this wasn’t like their other losses. No this was one of the worst and she knew the Latina had sensitive information that they couldn’t risk getting out in any way. But she didn’t have time to dwell on such thoughts as the thrum of engines pulled her from her line of thoughts.

“Let’s go, the locals are starting to investigate. Best not to be here when they do.” Widow said spotting the growing forms of the local gang, fast approaching with a dust cloud in their wake.

“Indeed let’s not find ourselves in another gun fight so soon.” The other woman agreed and wasted no more time in climbing aboard the shuttle with her cohorts as they quickly made their exit.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a mess. Her turf was an absolute disaster and she was pissed. “Fan out! Make sure there ain’t any stragglers hiding out.” She snapped out to the other members as they stood staring at the rubble around them. “Zeke check out that area. P.T., Terran over there. Bars I want you on watch. I don’t want any more surprises ya hear me?” 

The men all made sounds of acknowledgment and started to move out to their assigned tasks as the albino woman surveyed the area tisking at the amount of damage had been done, “Hey Ashe why didn’t we get out here sooner and stop those guys before they could do all this?’ The voice of P.T pulled Ashe from her stewing as he started to drag a jagged piece of burnt metal out of the road.

“Are you kiddin? I ain’t gonna risk my men, or bullets, in a fight that’s got nothin to do with us. If those two morons want to kill one another, fine by me. But I’m not gonna put my boys through that, not after last time.” She scoffed moving aside so B.O.B could help lift the hulking frame of whatever transport had once been there.

The last time anyone from either of those idiot teams had been seen was when that bastard Jesse McCree had shown up out of the blue looking to take some of their score. And that was an encounter Ashe wished she could forget. Her pride as a gang leader had been hurt that day and while B.O.B had been put back together she was still smarting over that defeat. And she swore the next time she saw his smug face it was going to be met with a bullet right between his eyes. “That bastard thinks he can just stroll on back, take my score, steal my bike, and get away with it? I’ll show him next time just you wait and see.” She muttered angrily to herself as she eyed the odd burn marks on the ground before her as her men worked on clearing the area and salvaging anything they could.

The ground was burnt, there was no mistaking it. But the burn mark path wasn’t that of any regular ol’ fire. It looked like the ground had been struck by lightning, leaving the desert floor looking like it had viens creeping to the surface. She could almost feel the pump of electricity like a heart was pulsing the static through those scorch marks, but a quick glance up at the endless blue sky above showed just as she knew. Not a damn cloud in sight to even blot out the sun. 

So what the hell could have left the impact of lightning without a storm cloud to be seen?

“Ashe! Ashe!” Zeke’s voice cried out breaking said woman from her line of thinking and looking his way as he waved his arms wildly to get her attention, “You’re gonna wanna see this!” he called out again making the rest of the crew look up in curiosity.

“This had better be worth my time Zeke and not some lizard or scorpion again!” she yelled back making her way over, strides long, and fast getting her by the others side as he looked over the lip of the gorge where he stood.

“I found a body. I can’t tell if they’re breathing though.” He said pointing urgently over the edge. 

Now that caught her attention and she ran the rest of the short distance and looked where he pointed. “Well I’ll be damned..” she mumbled as there down in the gorge, there was indeed a body. Precariously laying on an outcropping lip of the gorge’s wall. Most likely saving this being from certain death. “Well don’t just stand there! Get the rope and start climbin down there! B.O.B get over here and help!” Ashe yelled out, making the male next to her jump and the other two of the triplets come darting over. Their clean up duties were long forgotten now that this person had been found.

It took a lot longer than she would have liked, and Terran almost falling into the drop himself, before they were able to reach the body. “It’s a girl Ashe!” A moment’s pause as he knelt and checked for a pulse, “She’s alive but she’s hurt something fierce!” 

“B.O.B help get her out of there. If she's hurt I don’t want her gettin jostled around too much. Terran get back up here.” she ordered before offering her hand out to help the male back up. She knew B.O.B would be the only one to get whoever the hell was down there back up without killing them. “Everyone start packin it up! We’re heading back to the base!” 

Without hesitation, the triplets went off to collect the small number of salvageable items they could while Bars made his way down from his watchpoint. And with that, she turned and watched her trusted butler delicately lift the unconscious body and brought her back to the safety of the flat rock edge. Almost reminded her of her childhood when she would pretend to be asleep and he’d carry her off to bed. 

“Good God she smells!” 

“Shut the hell up Zeke, look at her! She looks burnt to hell!” P.T snapped as he slapped the back of his brother's head. And he wasn’t far off either, the small figure of a woman was held carefully in B.O.B’s arms, her outfit dirty and singed. The faint aroma she could only describe of spoiled meat being cooked, sour and attacking the senses, seemed to drift off the girl before her, and upon closer inspection found blood streaming from her mouth and ears. 

Not wanting to waste any more time, already feeling like more than enough had been thrown away, Ashe turned away from further inspection of the body, “Load up and ship out boys! We ain't losing her! A banged up live body is more useful than a dead one!” She barked out knowing that the woman now in their custody didn’t have a lot of time. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Oh, Dios mio mi cabeza.’ were the first words in her mind as her consciousness slowly returned. The sensation of pounding pain in her head was the first thing to greet her waking mind. It throbbed with each beat of her heart and made it feel like her skull was about to split open, and if she was being honest, that didn’t sound terrible if it would end the pain.

The next thing she felt was the stabbing red hot ache all over her body. Her back felt like it was on fire. Every breath she took was a lot of effort as if her lungs were being constricted by a Viper.

‘What happened during that heist last night?’ she couldn’t quite remember what they were going after or why but it was definitely a heist. 

As more feeling returned to her, she began to notice the distinct feeling of bandages wrapped around her chest and her arms leading all the way to her hands. Oh God her hands. She needed those! How was she going to hack anything if her hands became unusable? She could get prosthetics, but that would take months of therapy to get adapted to and she couldn't be out of commission for that long! Her team needed her, dammit!

Focusing all her energy on her left hand, she felt her fingers twitch ever so slightly. ‘Thank God those still work.’ Relief flooded her being and a breath, she didn’t realize she was holding, was released.

“Ashe, she's awake.” A male voice suddenly spoke over her, the owner was off to her left somewhere. But she didn’t recognize the voice as being one of her people or this Ashe person they had called for. Footsteps grew closer, thick high heels from the click clacks she was hearing. As she opened her eyes the light above her blinded her and made the throb in her head worse. She let out a small hiss of pain before quickly closing them again.

“Turn down that light why dontchu?” she groaned, throat sore and voice cracking from disuse. Christ how long had she been out and who did she have to bribe to get some water?

When her request was ignored she slowly opened her eyes again, this time being prepared for the blinding light above her and was greeted with a blurred version of the world. Turning her head to the left and away from that horrid light, she saw the blobby figure of what she could only guess was the medic who had called out for this ‘Ashe’.

“Well woulda look at that, she lives.” Came a woman’s voice on her right, where the footsteps had stopped, “You can leave us here Jonny, I don’t think she could hurt a fly right now.” 

Oh, she was smug wasn’t she? 

This ‘Jonny’ left with a soft “Yes Ashe.” The injured woman followed the sound of his footsteps and turned her head with a sigh of effort, and was thankful when her vision finally started to clear. 

As the blurriness faded she could see the loud leather boots that had made the clinking footsteps, they led up to long legs that crossed over one knee, and a black and gold leather jacket that crossed over the chest of a slender woman sitting before her. Her eyes trailed up to be greeted by a soft pale face, framed by ivory locks. Her pale features were accented by cherry red lips and prideful ruby eyes that were shadowed by a smokey eyeshadow.

“If you’re done gawkin’ we can start talkin’,” Ashe said sitting further back in her chair as she stared back at her.  
Blinking to end the staring match the woman on the medical bed grinned and gave a small shrug, she did her best to ignore the stabbing pain that earned her. “Sure whatever you say.” she replied back, playing it cool for now until she could get the upper hand on the situation. She’d be out of this place before dinner time.

Ashe scoffed softly at her and crossed her arms, “Alright then, firsts things first. Who are you and why the hell are you on my turf?” she asked getting straight to the point 

‘Of course. What a typical way to start, this’ll be too easy’ She thought with a subtle roll of her purple eyes. She opened her mouth to answer only to close it, with a small click as her teeth hit against one another. Her brows slowly knitted together as she thought. And after a moment of prolonged silence, she felt panic claw at her very being. She found that she couldn’t recall what her name could be or why exactly she was here. But the woman before her was a powerful person and she definitely wasn’t one to show any signs of weakness.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” the Latina said finally with a self-assured smile, “ Why don’t you tell me who you are first?” 

Ashe’s red eyes seemed to scan over her, clearly disapproving of the response she received from the other. Her gaze settled on the Latina’s face. Wait not her face, on her head. Almost self consciously, she reached up and gingerly felt along the shaven part of her head only to hiss as the augmentation she had there zapped her fingers, sending a small wave of pain through her head.

“You don’t remember a damn thing do you?” Ashe asked after another moment as realization dawned across her face. She had been told that the girl they had saved had some fancy arguments deeply rooted into her head but for what reason they didn’t know. And that they had clear signs of being electrocuted which must have caused that fancy tech to go dark. When her dark-skinned friend suddenly found herself tight-lipped, Ashe sighed and pushed herself forward. “Fine then, I’ll play along. My name is Ashe. I lead this here gang, and you are currently in the Deadlock medical wing.” she laid out the bare essential facts for the other and continued before she could speak.

“We found you barely alive and in some rather fancy looking attire. Only ever seen it on members of that Talon group we keep seeing on the news. Care to explain why that could be?” she asked, taking a shot in the dark in hopes of the other actually remembering the terrorist group. 

Talon? She knew of the group, but she definitely didn’t recall being part of it. This lady had to be pulling her leg, “I don’t know whatchur talking about, I may run with some of the worst but I’m not part of them.” 

Ashe calmly grabbed a bullet from her pocket and began to walk it across her fingers, looking only at the shimmering object rather than the patient. “Well, Talon is known for havin’ some pretty good liars” She said in a rather smooth tone. The deadly woman’s red eyes met her own. “So how do I know you ain’t lyin?”

The bandaged one in the room couldn’t think of any words before Ashe stood from her spot to keep talking, pulling what looked to be a rifle from behind the chair. “And just a warnin. Today is a very bad day to lie to me, darlin’. You know what happens when people lie to me?” She asked and flicked the bullet into the rifle to prove it’s loaded before cocking it. “Now spill. My boys saved your life, but I can end it if I have to.”

She didn’t know how her throat could have gotten any dryer, but it was suddenly a desert as she felt a cold chill run up her body. It was true she was a skilled liar, it’s how she got through most of her life. But right now, at this moment that would get her nowhere. Except in some unmarked grave in a ditch. “Look I’m telling you I don’t work for those bastardos! I don’t know why I have their gear or how I got here! Last thing I remember was at home working on hacking into some low-class security grid and then I’m here. If I could I would tell you my name or do you take me as some sort of tonta?” Her breathing was labored after her outburst and she glared at the Albino woman, her fists clenched at her sides. 

Ruby eyes scanned her over as if looking for any visible signs of her lying, and she found herself holding her breath as the rifle twitched in the other woman’s grasp, begging to be used. When the other finally spoke she felt some relief flood her like a breath of fresh air. “Well alright then,” her weapon found its home against her shoulder, “If you’re a smart girl, which I’m guessin’ you are, you know not to lie ta me. But that doesn’t clear you outta this mess. I’ll arrange a little test in a few days time. Prove ta me you’re as good a hacker as you say you are and we’ll get along fine. You fail or I find out you were lyin this whole time-”

A deafening shot filled the room. It left the bandaged women’s ears ringing as the heat of a bullet grazed her ear, sending some of her hair falling, to find it’s new home in the wall behind her. “Get the picture?” Ashe asked with a smirk, when the other nodded she turned and started out of the room. “Glad we have an understandin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. kudos and comments make for a happy author! See you in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 2 (Remember Who You Are)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kicked my ASS! I'm really bad at dialogue and this chapter was SO heavy on it that I was struggling lol. But I persevered and had the lovely Art_Surgery help feed me things Ashe would say and here we are! And because I have a distinct feeling I won't be able to update again before the holiday, a very Happy Halloween everyone! Because this chapter took longer than I expected, be prepared for out of season Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos shenanigans in future chapters! Till next time everyone!

The days that followed were pure torture for the amnesiac. She was dying of boredom. She still couldn’t remember her name or where she had come from, but knew she was an excellent hacker who hated being still for this long.

The first day after she woke up was thankfully the fastest day for her, as it had been mostly spent asleep. That was good, or so she had been told, but she wasn’t sure if she believed it. She knew that she ran with a gang but their name was part of her forgotten information. And it was starting to piss her off.

The second day, well that had been a fun day. One that got the Latina in quite a bit of trouble.

It had been some time in the afternoon, after her daily check-up with their ‘medic’, when one of the other gang members had come in all smirks and half-hidden giggles. “What do you want gringo? I’m not exactly in the talking mood.” She glared at him as he moved closer. 

“Oh nothing much,” he had said looking over his shoulder, “Just wanted to check in with our little perra.” he finished biting his lip as the woman glared death at him.

“What did you just call me?” She had hissed dangerously back. She was already not in a good mood, but to have some idiot come in, butcher the pronunciation of her language, and make it an insult as well? He had better been joking.

He hadn’t. “I said I was checking on you, perra.” 

Before he even knew what hit him, the woman he had thought wouldn’t be able to move from her bed had him pinned to the ground. Her knee was crushing his left arm into his back while she wordlessly threatened to break his right wrist, “I know you didn’t just call me that again.” She had hissed dangerously in his ear. And when he started to scream out for hep, it just gave her the perfect opportunity to catch his tongue between her fingers.

“Give me a good reason not to rip this right out.” 

“How ‘bout I don’t blow your head off your shoulder’s where you sit.” Ashes voice had suddenly spoken over them, followed by the ominous cocking of her rifle. 

“He insulted me. I don’t normally sit by when that happens.” The shorter woman responded curtly.

“Well, my business, my rules.” The paler woman replied with a roll of her eyes and lowered her gun resting it against her hip, “Alright, you got yourself into this one Vic, how are you gonna get yourself out of it?” 

He had immediately launched into a blubbering, unintelligible mess. The Latina hadn’t taken her eyes off Ashe, watching her to see if she’d lift that gun back on her. When the silvery-haired woman didn’t move she laughed gently and lifted her hands away from the male and stood, on shaking legs. “I can forgive it this one time. Can’t say I can let it go as easy in the future.” She had said stepping back as Vic scrambled up and ran behind his leader.

Ashe had stood observing her, and she refused to back down even with her legs shaking and her back screaming. “How the hell did you do that? We thought you were incapacitated,” she asked as she shooed away the gathered crowd and stepped forward to help steady the other woman.

“I don’t need your help, I can handle myself just fine.” the darker-skinned woman said, pulling away from the other, and leaned more against her bed.

“Suit yourself.” Ashe had said with a shrug, “I just never seen someone as hurt as you are move as quick as you did. Then you take down one of my men in less than a minute to boot? Talon must train you, folks, well.”

“I’ve told you, I don’t work for them." 

"As you keep sayin', but you still can't even tell me who you are darlin'," Ashe smirked at her crossing her arms.

"Stop calling me that. I'm going to sleep now." The Latina hissed and finally sat down. Never once taking her eyes off the albino. Her body was screaming at her and she was feeling the fatigue hit her like a brick.

With a laugh and a shake of her head, Ashe started out of the room, "I'll stop calling you that as soon as you give me your name, darlin'." 

God, she couldn’t stand that woman.

At the end of the first week in this hell was when progress was finally made. The Latina was just waking up, her head foggy and heavy with a dream she couldn’t quite remember now. A voice so familiar yet not, speaking to her, as a warm sun washed over them. Calling to her, but it sounded like a whisper, “Wake up Livie. Hora de despertar.”

Eyes opening with the name echoing in the back of her mind, she knew her name. It had to be. What else could that have been? She hadn’t had a single dream during her stay here and then this? Her gut was telling her it was something significant.

"Good morning darlin'." Ashes voice drifted in as the slender woman crossed the threshold of the medical bay, "How we feelin' today?" She asked, taking her usual seat. As she had done every day since her second day 'incident' as it had been called.

"Oh you know, living the dream. Just like yesterday and the day before." The purple-eyed Latina replied sarcastically, "I'm bored out of my mind what do you think?" 

Ashe rolled her eyes, “Well are you at least useful yet? Remember anything today, or is it ‘just like yesterday and the day before’?” She asked mockingly. She was not in the mood to deal with the other girl's lip.

“Well so sorry to disappoint you,” She started, “But you can no longer call me ‘Darlin’’ anymore. Call me Livie.” 

“Well I’ll be damned, she remembers something.” Ashe chuckled as she stood up and moved over to the edge of Livie’s bed and gently picked up one of her hands, “Now how about we see if these are just as useful.” 

Livie pulled her hand back defensively, glaring up at the other woman, “What the hell are you planning on doing with them?” She snapped, careful with her hands ever since she had woken up. Fear of never being able to use them again a near-constant in the back of her mind.

“Now don’t get feisty, I just want to check 'em out. See how they’re healing so we know how soon you’ll be able to show us these hacking skills you say you have.” Ashe stated matter of factly not backing down against the other’s scrutinizing gaze. Seemingly searching her very being for any trace of deception. 

Slowly, and carefully the bandaged hand was offered back up to her, “You know what I can do despite being stuck in this bed. Don’t try anything.” Came the cold, thinly veiled threat as those purple eyes burned into ruby ones.

“Tough talk for someone who nearly collapsed after her last fiasco.” 

The only response that earned was an annoyed huff from the darker haired woman, sending the room into silence. Carefully the bandages were unwound revealing the tender, raw skin. The pulses of electricity had left lightning bolt-like markings from her back, down her arms, all the way down to her wrists. Leaving the skin red and raw.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s infected. Which means my medic did a halfway decent job, but how’s your mobility?” Ashe asked gently turning the scarred hand in hers, carefully eyeing the wound for any signs of onset infection. “Come on now, can you move them?” 

“Oh I can move them alright,” Livie said, pulling her hand away, and with a quick flex to ensure they did work, flipped off the albino woman. “See? They move just fine.” She finished with a smirk, mischief shining in her eyes.

All she got in return for it was a side-eyed chuckle from the other, “Well, ain’t that sweet of you?” Ashe said taking the hand, a bit more forcefully than needed and moved the other fingers herself. Earning herself a confused look from the Latina. “Careful now, that’s how we show affection ‘round here.” 

A skeptical look found it’s way across Livie’s face, a brow raised high and lips pursed, “That’s a funny way to show it, you know that right?” she said flatly, letting the other pull and push her digits on one hand and move to do the same with the other.

“Don’t believe me?” Ashe paused in her work, looking at the other as she gave her a look that clearly said ‘of course I don’t.’ and laughed, “Hey Zeke get in here real quick!” she called out. If Livie jumped at the sudden rise in her voice, she’d never admit it. 

Zeke’s head popped in over the threshold of the door, having been stationed for “guard duty”, his blue eyes scanning the room quickly for any danger before taking a single step into the room, “Yeah Ashe?” 

Without a word or preamble, Ashe raised her hand and flipped up her matte black middle finger with a smirk. Zeke’s eyes widened slightly and he glanced over his shoulders for a moment, before looking back at her. She gave him a pointed look and after another beat, he slowly raised his hand and returned the gesture. He looked similar to a child who realized they put salt instead of sugar into their mothers’ coffee. 

“That’s all I needed, now get out of here.” She waved him off, and quick as a flash he turned and ran out of the room. Undoubtedly going to tell his brothers what just happened, not that they’d ever believe him.

“You know,” Livie spoke up after a moment, turning her gaze back to Ashe, “You’re a terrible liar.”

Ashe chuckled and shook her head, crossing her arms, “I am not. It’s others who ruin the lie.” she said turning away and pulling out new gauze to rewrap the other girl’s hands. 

A small snort was her response, “That’s why I don’t trust anyone to lie for me. They always let you down eventually.” She said with a small sigh, “Better to work alone.”

“Odd to hear that coming from someone who supposedly runs with a gang herself.” Ashe said with a brow raised, taking the first hand to rebandage, “ Here in this gang, we’re a family. We got one another’s backs, and family don't leave anyone behind.” The way she said it, made it clear she was speaking from some painful experience. 

“This may be a family for you, but even with my crew it’s always been yo, yo Mismo y yo.” Livie snapped harshly at her, “My gang was just a way to get some power in this world. Find out who really runs this world.”

This caused Ashe to pause and look at the other, eyes scanning the others blank face. Tight and holding back any emotion. It didn’t look like it fit her personality in the least. “Sounds like a hard life. Always on the move, looking over your shoulder, never knowing who you can trust.” She continued wrapping Livie’s hands, slower now. “I used to be like that you know. Me against the world, trust no one but myself and Bob a’course. Got me in more than my fair share of trouble. Never really had what one would call a perfect family, so I went and made my own. Aside from a-” A small pause as she searched for the right word, “issues, I wouldn’t trade my family for anything. It ain’t always easy, but dammit we have each other's backs.” She gently lowered the hand she finished on and looked up to find purple eyes peering into hers.

“Well, that’s great for you. But I got this far just fine by myself. I learned to watch my own back and I’ve been great. I don’t need any family, so don’t bother to try and offer me a place in yours when I prove myself able to get out of here. Because my answer is no.” Livie ground out never once averting her gaze from the other’s face. “Once I ‘prove myself’ or whatever you want me to do, I’ll be gone before you know what’s happened. So don’t get use to my presence here.”

Anger filled Ashe like a raging bull, her cool demeanor vanishing like smoke from a flame as she stood abruptly. Glaring down her nose at the younger woman her hands shook as they balled into fists, before raising and pointing dangerously at her, “Don’t you worry about that missie.” She hissed like a dragon breathing smoke, “My family doesn’t have room for another deserter. If anything I say good riddance, just don’t expect me to show the same generosity by savin’ your sorry ass when you can’t make it more than ten miles out of here!”

Before Livie could even take a breath to say anything back, Ashe stormed out of the medical wing, not giving a damn about the other hand that still needed to be rebandaged. She’d send one of her boys to finish that job, right now though she needed to shoot something. “Someone bring me those photos of McCree!” she shouted as she grabbed her rifle and made her way out to the shooting range, knowing whoever got the target would know to bring it out there to her. And then if they didn’t want to inadvertently become part of her tantrum, they would very quickly vacate the area.


	4. Chapter 3: BBC (Bob Babysitting Company)

For two days Livie didn’t see hide or hair from Ashe. She’d hear her distantly yelling about something, but she didn’t really care about what. Instead, she saw the gang medic who would come in, check her wounds, and eventually put her on a physical therapy routine to ensure that she didn’t lose any dexterity. At least these people weren’t entirely as useless as she had thought.

When she finally heard Ashe’s voice outside her door again, it was during her exercise time. At this point, she was allowed to sit up fully and work her arms and hands with small weights. She paused her exercises and listened closer when it became clear the silver-haired woman wouldn't be entering the room.

“No, I won’t go in there.” Ashe snapped at whoever was out there with her. 

A pause, no sound filtering through the door. Were they whispering out there or something?

“You don’t know what she said to me last time! She insulted the crew, therefore she insulted me!” Ashes’ voice loudly broke the silence. So they weren’t whispering. But then, why the hell did more silence fill the air when someone should have answered? “No. Absolutely not. Do you want me to shoot her? Because that’s what’ll happen if I walk back in there.” 

What a truly lovely woman. Threatening a helpless amnesiac. Livie would bet good money that Ashe knew she could be heard and was trying to scare her into an apology. Fat chance of that happening.

“No, I didn’t think so. That’s why you’re gonna babysit her.” Ashe said, the smirk clear in her voice before she shouted a call of luck over the sound of her heels walking away.

Outrage filled every fiber of Livie’s being, her hands curling into fists, and gritting her teeth, “I don’t care who’s out there, or what your orders are,” She yelled out fuming, “But I don’t need a babysitter! If you even step a foot in here you’ll regret it!”

There was no answer, and for a moment Livie thought she had successfully scared away whoever Ashe had tried to send in. She was proven wrong when one of the biggest civilian omnics she had ever seen carefully stepped into the room. He had to bend and side-step through the doorway, then he just stood there looming over her and staring with his bright green optics. 

Staring up at him, she found herself slack-jawed in shock, but quickly regained her composure and closed her mouth with a click. The room fell into a tense silence before Livie couldn’t take it anymore, “I don’t need a babysitter, I’m a grown woman so just get out of here!” She snapped at him only to get a small head tilt as he moved further into the room. 

As those seemingly gentle green optics stared down at her, Livie’s frustration only grew, “Are you trying to intimidate me or something? Because it’s not working!” She growled, chest heaving as her purple eyes glared into the soft green ones. And after a long moment, the silent omnic gently shook his head ‘no’. “Then what the hell are you doing?! Why aren’t you talking to me? Is this some form of torture?” She asked in rapid succession as she crossed her arms and continued to stare him down. She refused to admit that the was starting to creep her out. 

As expected, the bulky omnic didn’t say anything, but he did move. Slowly raising his right hand, in the form of a fist with his thumb resting on top of his other thick fingers. Against her consciousness Livie flinched back slightly at the sight, only to be taken by surprise when she heard a slight thunk against his metallic chest before gently moving in a slow clockwise motion a few times. He then proceeded to point to himself in the same spot before raising both hands then bringing them closer, making a slight grabbing motion while shaking his head again. His hands then flipped so the palms would be facing him and moved them upwards at a slight angle while the fingers splayed out and ended with him pointing at Livie. 

The Latina stared up at him for a moment, in complete and utter confusion. “I don’t understand sign language, did you just curse at me?” she asked to break the tension. She knew vaguely that he had just used sign language to ‘speak’ to her but, besides him pointing to himself and her, she had no idea what he had just tried to convey to her.

This seemed to dishearten the larger being as he made a motion similar to a defeated sigh, and pulled out what looked like a portable holo-projector with a light keyboard. He quickly typed out something and the words filled the screen and a soothing voice read out “I said ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you.’’ And as quickly as the words had appeared they vanished and were replaced with new ones. “My name is B.O.B, I work for Ms. Ashe and have for many years. She has asked that I keep an eye on you today.”

Huffing loudly Livie crossed her arms and glared at him, “I’m not a niña, I can look after myself you know.” She scowled up at him, looking much like the child she insisted she wasn’t. “So you can just go ahead and leave right now before I hack you so badly it will take ‘Ms. Ashe’ ten years to get you working again.” She threatened up at him, her tone cold and her glaring gaze even colder.

If it was any other omnic standing before her, they would have been shaking to their struts, but this one just looked at her. A gentle gaze searched her face as his head tilted gently until he seemed to find whatever he was looking for in her cold gaze. Moving slowly he typed once more, “I don’t think you’d do that.”

“What do you know? I could and I will if you make me!”’ 

“No, you won’t. I can tell, you can hack my systems and even shut me down for good, but I can tell that is just a front you’re putting up. A mask, if you will. Show no fear, no weakness. I’ve seen it before and just like them, you won’t actually go through with it unless I give you a better reason than me simply being a bother to you.” 

A shocked silence followed long after the digital words faded from existence. Livie stared with a slack jaw once more, it moved occasionally as she tried to find something to say in response to that. But what could she say when he had just laid out all the cards on the table before her. Finally, she managed a weak, “You don’t know me.”

“No, but I have seen people just like you. And I would like to offer up my services. Help you get past this,” he started, “What are you feeling right now? What are you thinking about? How can we help you? Why did you say those things to Ms. Ashe? Are you comfortable? Is there anything I can get you?”

The questions came rapid-fire and too quick for Livie to fully process, let alone think of ways to answer them without giving anything away. They just kept coming, seemingly overlapping one another. All different, but the same leading back to the base question. Was she alright? It was too much. Livie squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her heart rate pick up and her breathing getting caught in her throat. 

“Enough!” she shouted suddenly flying out at B.O.B and slamming her fists into his chest with a small thunk. “Shut up! Just shut up!” she cried but didn’t feel the stray tears crawling their way down her cheeks. “I’m scared damn it! I have no idea where I am, barely who I am! And I have nowhere to go if I ever get out of here! So I’m terrified ok!? Estoy tan asustada.” Her fists weakly hit his chest, again and again, doing nothing to phase the Omnic who just stared down at her. 

More tears flowed down her cheeks in gentle streams, breathing labored and her arms pulsing with a dull pain she found she just didn’t care about at that moment. She expected some sort of reaction from the robotic being she was now resting her head against as she cried like a child, but to her surprise, she felt him gently move her back to sit down.

And then he turned around and left the room without so much as a word to the distraught Latina. ‘Great’ she thought, sniffing grossly and wiping her nose and eyes, “He’s run off to tell Ashe all about this, and then she’ll be right back in here and...I don’t know. Most likely make fun of you, tonta.’ 

To her surprise when she heard his heavy footsteps approaching a few minutes later, she didn’t hear the tell-tell sound of Ashe’s heels following behind. And when he entered the room he was holding a new soft-looking blanket for her, and a tray with a box of tissues, cookies, and what looked like a glass of sweet tea. He carefully put the tray down before he turned to her and carefully wrapped the blanket around her shoulder, and then ever so carefully seemed to pet her head.

Livie was still in a state of shock when he turned and offered the tray of treats, she looked at the slightly burnt cookies and took one followed by the already sweating glass of iced tea with a weak, “Thank you.” that got caught in her throat.

His eyes moved in a way that conveyed a smile and nodded his head, and then he finally took a seat and grabbed his translator, “I’m sorry, I made you cry. That wasn’t my intention at all, it seems I may be a touch out of practice when it comes to the first steps for this.” that gentle voice said.

“No shit.” Livie laughed softly, the kind that could almost be mistaken for a breath. This seemed to make B.O.B laugh softly, if the slight rise and fall of his shoulders was anything to go by, causing Livie to smile softly.

“Let’s try that again shall we?” he offered, setting aside the tray as Livie nodded softly, nibbling on the cookie and having a vague thought of a bakery back home. “You said you were scared, what else are you feeling? And how can I help ease your fears?”

Taking a moment to chew on the bit cookie she had, Livie thought about how to go about answering the questions. Finally, she swallowed and looked back up to meet the soft, green optics, "Obviously I'm scared, but I'm also confused and disoriented. I don't know where I am, or even where I came from besides Mexico." Now that her hand was free of the treat she found it gripping the blanket around her shoulders, "I guess to start, could you tell me where we are? And I know you can't tell me precise locations but knowing a general area is better than nothing." 

What could be called a smile seemed to grace B.O.B's features as he gave a small nod of understanding, "You are correct, but I can inform you that you are currently residing in the area known as Deadlock Gorge, Arizona." 

"Arizona huh? Just a rocks throw from home...I think." Livie said with a grin. At least she wasn't further north. She couldn't stand the cold and had an odd sensation of having recently been in a snow-covered terrain but no real memory as to why that could be. "You're….not just gonna throw me out of here once I do whatever it is you want, right? Or ship me out of here back to Mexico?" She asked when Ashe’s threat of throwing her out at the first chance echoed in her head. 

B.O.B's whole demeanor changed and he seemed to soften as he gave a gentle shake of his head, and placed a large hand on her shoulder. "No of course not. Ms. Ashe may say many harsh things but she wouldn't do that, without good reason. You insulted our family and Ms. Ashe takes personal offense to insults at us. But I assure you, she has no intention of 'throwing' you out. We will do our best to ensure you have a place to go if you so wish." He finished giving a surprisingly gentle squeeze to her shoulder. It was reassuring to hear.

Though being reminded of the not to kind words she had spoken in her anger just a few days prior made Livie cringe. "I- I didn't mean what I said. I mean...I kind of did because I have my own gang somewhere. But I appreciate your help. I suppose I should apologize to the boss." She finished with a sigh, she had never been good at admitting when she was wrong. But she knew she was in this instance and had to make good with the woman in charge.

"That would be appreciated. By myself and Ms. Ashe." B.O.B seemed to relax, now relieved. "Believe what I say, she isn't a bad person. She was like you once before. Scared and alone. It made her angry and lash out at anyone and everyone. Give her time and you'll see, she is a truly wonderful person." He finished with another smile in his eyes and a warm squeeze once more to her shoulder.

"I'll do my best. Maybe she'll find I'm too adorable to kill." Livie joked smiling softly at the Omnic. "Mind if I keep this?" She asked lifting the blanket in question, "I nearly freeze in here at night with this tissue that medic called a blanket." 

B.O.B looked at her for a moment before a soft whirring sound came from him that she quickly found was a form of laughter. "Yes, you may keep the blanket. Ms. Ashe likes to keep this place comfortable for the gang as much as she can. Unfortunately, it seems to not be working too well if you are nearly freezing." 

Finding an odd comfort in the information that she'd have additional warmth and that Ashe wasn't such a cold-hearted bitch the Latina laughed. Loud and full, "Well I’m sure once I'm out of these rags it'll be much more appreciated." She finally said after catching her breath. Then after a moment's thought, she looked at B.O.B again as he started to stand and clean the tray and empty cup, "Hey?" Green optics turned to her in a questioning way, "How do you say 'thank you' in sign?" She might as well get some new skills while here.

Beaming, B.O.B placed the tray back down and turned to face her fully. Raising his right hand he gently touched his chin, before moving his hand out and down towards her. He watched her, almost buzzing with excitement as she carefully repeated the gesture back.

"I can teach you if you'd like" he typed up quickly. 

"You know? I think I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry (belated) Christmas! And a blessed Yuletide everyone! I meant to get this chapter out much sooner than this. Had it all finished and sitting in my docs but then the holiday rush absolutely dominated the forefront of my mind and then editing fell through the cracks. But it's here now and I hope you enjoy it! Nex chapter we will have Sombra finally getting put to the test, more bonding with the gang and hopefully, she and Ashe may see eye to eye. Even for a second. As always Comments and Kudos give me life and inspiration to keep going. Till next time!


	5. Chapter 4: The Test

Ashe leaned over the table before her, red eyes hard and focused as they scanned the plans laid out. This had been a heist in the works for months now, a high risk but high reward if they could pull it off right. They had gotten wind of a shipment of some high-end weapons being stored by military operations not far off their hideout. They were new secret technology from Volskaya Industries, made for the sole purpose of fighting back omnics that had been attacking cities once again. Ashe could think of a few buyers who would pay top dollar to get their hands on said tech, and her crew could always use more guns at their disposal that didn’t require some sort of trade, or from her pocket.

She had been working out the best possible way to get in and pull out this job for some time now. She wanted no chance of this going sideways, leaving them with no score or worse; dead men. McCree at least left all of them alive, Bars and BOB needing some extensive repairs but alive. These security guards wouldn’t give them the same courtesy, they’d shoot first, hide bodies, and then ask questions. Ashe wasn’t going to have that happen on her watch, not even if the devil himself stood in her way. 

After months of stakeouts, and careful planning they had almost everything planned out. They would move in under the cover of night, knew when guard shifts were, where they would plant getaway vehicles, how they’d move everything out of the secured vault. The plan was almost perfect, the only hitch was they were trying to keep this covert, and the weapons and tech were all stored in a high-tech vault that could be blown in. But that was loud and they didn’t have enough dynamite to get through fast enough. The only other way that one could get in was through the main doors, through highly encrypted security codes. 

It was the one hitch in the plan, that was keeping it on hold and they were running out of time. Not for them not trying in the least either, they had tried to hack into the system with their resident “hacker” but he had quickly found he was far better suited for hacking small-time jobs, basic locks on cargo holds, and cheating at video games than getting into highly classified military vaults. That had sent them into a series of failed trials attempting to find a reliable hacker to get them in and out safely, keep their mouths shut after it was all said and done, and most importantly; not get them all killed.

She had almost admitted defeat until they had a hacker land in a charred heap right into their hands. The Latina had claimed to be a pretty decent hacker for the gang that she ran with the moment she had woken up in her medical wing but had also said it was some small-time job.

Ashe was a great many things, but stupid wasn’t one of those things. She knew better than to trust the amnesiac right out the door to deliver on such a hard mission that risked the lives of her men more than usual, so she had come up with exactly what to do to test out Livie’s abilities. And today was the day of judgment.

Leaning back and stretching her arms above her head, earning a satisfying pop from her back, Ashe turned and left the planning room heading straight for the medical wing, BOB falling into step behind her from his post at the door. 

“And you’re sure she can be trusted, BOB? I'm counting on you for this one.” Ashe asked looking over her shoulder to watch him give a curt nod and sign to her about how she seemed to be getting more comfortable, around him at least. “Well alright then, let’s not keep her waiting then.”

Falling into practiced ease, they quickly made their way from one side of the hideout where the rooms and general planning was done, to the other side where they kept the medical equipment, practice range. In all, it took about five minutes to cross the base where they found their chief medical officer stood waiting for them. “Ms. Ashe.” He greeted with a nod.

“Is she ready to go Jonny?” The albino woman asked, not wanting to waste any more time was quick to cut to the chase. 

Smiling and pulling up a clipboard, he almost looked like a professional and not a dropout, he nodded, “She checks out. Not one hundred percent bill of health, she may need some crutches or a cane for a while. But she is free of infection, healing nicely, and most importantly; her hands work just fine for the job you want her to do.” He finished lowering the board when Ashe shook her head when it was offered to her to look over if she so wanted. “She’s dressed and has been complaining about the wait, so I won’t keep you from her any more than I already have.” 

With that he stepped aside and opened the door, letting Ashe cross the threshold to be greeted with Livie leaning against the bed she had been using for over two weeks, legs crossed at the ankle wearing some sandals and black pants that looked strikingly similar to Ashes, her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, now dawning a slightly too big teal tank top, and her hair seemed to finally have gotten a good brushing. Her dark eyes were bored looking and her lips were in a thin, unamused line as she stared back at the albino. 

“Are you done ‘gawking’ as you put it? It isn’t very nice to keep a lady waiting you know.”

“If you’re a lady, then I must be the Queen of England. And just remember I can still shoot you, which would be a shame seeing as my boys cleaned you up real nice, and BOB seems to have taken a liking to you.” Ashe replied, placing her hands on her hips, staring the other down. She was still angry with her over what had been said, but then BOB had told her what had happened between him and the other woman and the bleeding heart had started to teach her sign language. Curse her own soft-hearted ways when it came to her butler, it was going to get her trouble one of these days.

“Well, then your majesty when exactly are you going to take me to this little test of yours hm?”

Taking only a moment to calm the flame of anger that tried to flare Ashe scoffed and threw her head towards the door, “Right now. Follow me, and no funny business or-”

“Or you’ll shoot me.” Livie cut her off with a smirk, pushing herself away for the bed, “I get the picture now let’s get the fun going.” 

Once again surprising the paler woman with how fast she could move with her injuries and needing a cane that had yet to be given to her, the Latina was past Ashe and out the door before Ashe even took a step. “Hold up now, I ain’t letting you have free reign of this place. We will escort you there and then we’ll see exactly how good of a hacker you are.” Ashe said quickly catching up to the other and grabbing her arm.

“Oh come on, what harm could I possibly do?” Livie asked with a dramatic flutter of her eyes, feigning a look of innocence. When all she got was an unimpressed look she groaned and shook her arm free to stretch them behind her head, “Alright fiiiiine. Lead the way, what is it you even want me to do?” She asked as she looked around the warehouse-like base as they led her further into the complex.

Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, Ashe observed the other for only a moment then turned her gaze forward as they entered a room with a computer set up. “It's real simple.” she started, “We want your help with a big score, but we need to get in, secure and quiet. Now, many other hackers have come through this very room and showed that they couldn’t make that cut. You are gonna have that very same test.” 

“How exactly have you not been caught if you’ve had so many hackers?” Livie asked, taking the seat in front of the computer. 

“If you wouldn’t interrupt me, you’d know a lot sooner.” Ashe snapped, “Now we aren’t going to throw you into that security grid if you can’t hack it. So we have the next best thing.” Leaning over the keyboard and hitting a few keys brought up a security feed of a steel door with an impressive-looking locking system, no doubt with some high security by the looks of it. “This here is the Deadlock Weaponry. We store all our really impressive firepower in there and has top of the line security only topped by what our target score has protecting it. Your test is to hack into the security system for that door and get it open without tripping any alarms. You have an hour and a half to get in.”

Livie leaned back in the chair, looking at Ashe carefully. Her eyes scanned the others' red eyes searching for something but Ashe gave nothing away as she stared down her nose, smirking at the darker-haired woman. She looked back to the screen and the security image it showed, then a wide smile broke out across her features. “Is that all?” she asked as she pulled her legs up onto the chair, crossing them neatly, and cracked her knuckles, and hissed only softly at the sting of pain. “I can do that in my sleep. When does the clock start?” she asked turning fully to the computer and let her fingers ghost over the keys.

“It already started,” Ashe said, stepping back to take a seat, ready to watch her struggle just like all the others had done. And all of them had said the same thing, with twice as much confidence.

A delighted laugh bubbled from the other was all she got as a response before the other took off. Her fingers seemed to dance over the keys, like old lovers reunited after years of being apart. Within seemingly seconds Livie had the base's security grid open and lines of code scrolling past her. Her purple eyes seemed to glow as they focused on the scrolling lines. They were focused and filled with a joy that rivaled that of a child on Christmas morning. 

After nearly twenty-four minutes, where two other hackers had tripped security alarms already, those glowing eyes turned confused and her brows knitted together. Legs still crossed the Latina leaned in closer to the screen as if it would clarify whatever it was that seemed to stump her for all but a heartbeat. Ashe watched her closely, taking quick notice to the slight hesitation and sense of frustration that now lingered around the other woman, and sighed, ‘Yet another one far too confident in themselves it seems.’ She thought to herself as she leaned further back and crossed a leg. 

The sound of keys quickly being tapped and the ticking of the clock were the only sounds that filled the room. Livie never once broke her intense gaze from the screen and didn’t show any more signs of the confused frustration that had clung to her for all of two minutes. She never said anything to those watching her, she barely moved after adjusting to be closer to the screen. It seemed almost as if she was lost in her own world, with nothing but the computer and her in a never-ending dance as the lines of codes went by. 

As the clock ticked down, there were no sounded alarms, no frantic gang members running around due to the fire sprinklers going off, all of which made Ashe extremely happy. What dampened her mood was when the clock struck one hour and thirty minutes after the start of the test, and the door had yet to be opened. Yet Livie turned to her with a self-assured smirk as time ran out, “All done.” she said leaning back. And yet the door on the camera stayed sealed shut.

Ashe looked at her and smirked cruelly and stood with a shake of her head, “The test was to get into the armory before time runs out. Seems to me that the door is still shut tight, I will give it to you though you didn’t trip any alarms. But playing with lines of code ain’t what we’re looking for.” Turning away from the other she waved a hand to BOB, “Get her out of here, seems she couldn’t hack it.”

BOB seemed dejected to have seen the younger girl fail but nodded and moved forward to help her up when she seemed to refuse to move, watching Ashe, when she spoke again, “Now I wouldn’t say that Elizabeth.”

Freezing mid-step Ashe nearly tripped over herself hearing her first name and whipped around, hair flying and covering her eyes for only a moment hiding the shock she wore with a slack jaw accenting piece to stare at the now grinning hacker. “How do you-”

“Oh, I learned lots of fun things. Seems you always were a wild child, always seemed to be in some fight or another, arrested the same day as your graduation, though I’d say you’re doing fairly well for yourself now so who needs high school anyway. Never did me good, but hey we aren’t talking about me are we?” Her grin was one to rival the Cheshire cat as she stood, “You ran away from what I couldn’t find fully, seemed to be happily left off this little record of yours, but you did burn down your family home in Texas.”

The more Livie spoke the more she had a dawning horror that she had hacked into the private records she kept of the whole gang, herself included. Swallowing thickly she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, “I get it, you found my files. Good work, but that wasn’t your test. You still failed.” 

“Oh, that door?” Livie asked pointing to the screen, “That door leads to the food storage, now this door-” with a push of a button the security feed switched to an open vault-like door open wide and three men looking in and around it confused, “is the one you wanted me to open. I got that open within the first thirty minutes. Nice try with the fake door and messy code, but I got it and when I did I figured why not have some fun with this?”

Ashe stood silent, utterly dumbfounded by the sheer display of self-aware power that the hacker could have had over herself and her gang. And she had used the time to barely scratch the surface of her past. "Well, I'll be damned." She mumbled, finally closing her mouth a soft click. "Seems I underestimated you and your skills. And I don't usually admit being wrong, but I was wrong." A smirk pulled at her lips as she stepped forward.

"I'm still not joining your gang." Livie was quick to supply when she was offered Ashe's leather-clad hand. 

"Good, 'cause I ain't offering you a spot. I'm offering you a job. Help me get it done and you can go wherever you want, me and my boys will even help get you there." 

After a tense moment, Livie’s steely calculating face broke with a laugh into a wide smile before slapping her hand in a firm handshake with the albino woman. "You have yourself a deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, yall so sorry for the time gap here. I kinda lost track of time but I got the chapter done and I'm hoping things will start to pick up from here on out. Get ready yall
> 
> Also, I'm working on another SombrAshe fic that hit me like a damn brick due to 4 days of constant snow/ice. So be on the look out for that


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